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Also, I'm not sure what to make of the scene where the woman picks up the Master's ring. When I saw that, I had to do a double-take, because it messed up my perception of what I thought was the end of the Master, and as a result, cheapened the beautiful acting and good writing of the Master's actual death.
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That scene was put in for future production teams who might want to bring back the Master. I'm not a big fan of it myself, but if it means more Master one day, I think I'll live with it.
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The sound of drums -- this never panned out. I was thinking that this was going to be somehow relevant to something or at least explained better, but in the end, it meant nothing at all, and the only significance in the end was hearing it stop when he died. Also, it was said that the Master heard the sound of drums his entire life from childhood, which would imply that Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley suffered from this same problem -- so why would they have never said anything about it, whereas John Simm can barely keep quiet about it?
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I've got a theory - the earlier Masters only heard it occasionally, but when he was Yana the vortex/Master madness increased the drumming to try and remind him of who he was, and when he was John Simm it continued in that fashion.
Not an Eric Roberts fan, then?
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I also notice that the TARDIS interior was perfectly restored back to normal, with no reconstruction period, no hinted regrowth, and no explanation or even hint as to how exactly the Doctor just put it all back to normal. That was rather a letdown, partially because I was somewhat hoping for a new console room or at the very least a new console, but also partially because it seems again to be a symptom of RTD's itchy trigger finger on that reset button.
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Seems to be a symptom of the overstretched budget to me. TARDIS sets are expensive.
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Seeing Jack leave was also kind of sad -- I knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier. Also, I must say, I have my concerns about RTD's current writing of Jack. His behavior here seems to completely contradict essentially everything that had been established about Jack throughout Torchwood, about desperately seeking the Doctor for answers and just to be with him again, and also expressing a huge interest in dying. The Jack we saw at the end of this episode was perfectly happy to leave the Doctor after a relatively short time so he could hang out on 21st century Earth (poor taste), and seemingly no more interest in dying.
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Re: 1st point
DOCTOR: Do you wanna die?
JACK: This one's a little stuck.
DOCTOR: Jack.
JACK: I thought I did. I dunno. But this lot... you see them out here surviving... and that's
fantastic.
Re: 2nd point
JACK: I had plenty of time to think that past year. The year that never was. And I kept thinking about that team of mine. Like you said, Doctor; responsibilities. (Also, big paychecks and top billing in my own 13 part series)
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It just seems like a radical change in direction for Jack, and I don't like it, because I'd gotten used to the Jack we saw on Torchwood. I also think it would have been much better to keep him around in the TARDIS.
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So do I, but it's not a fault with the episode but with JB wanting his own career. Shocking.
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I also have to comment on Martha's departure. This came as quite a radical shock to me, as I was definitely expecting (and hoping for) at least another year with Freema Agyeman, but now it seems she's leaving, at least partially, already. I can understand Martha's second reason for departing, in that she didn't want to waste her life with the Doctor since he didn't reciprocate her feelings for him. But I also think that's rather shortsighted of her, because truthfully, nearly everyone on the planet has to live with some kind of close friend that they have feelings for but they simply don't feel the same way. At least Martha has a good friendship with the Doctor, which she doesn't need to sacrifice just because they can't be a couple. In addition, she is not just giving up her friendly relationship with the Doctor, but also the ability to travel through time and space. Now that's just dumb -- I had pegged Martha to be smarter than to give something like that up for such a poor reason.
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So she should stay with the unattainable? "Some things are worth getting your heart broken for." That's all well and good for Sarah Jane, she's over the hill, but Martha is a hot sexy 25 year old. She can't hang around with a man as gorgeous and charismatic as David Tennant and not get any love in return. She has to get out and make her own life. Anyway, she's returning. (FYI it's being rumoured she's pregnant)
I must stress this: changes to the series format made by general consenus of the actors and production team are not the fault of this episode. RTD didn't just write the thing, writing people out as he went.